Chromatographic techniques are important tools for the identification and separation of complex samples. The basic principle underlying chromatographic techniques is the separation of a mixture into individual components by transporting the mixture in a moving fluid through a retentive media. The moving fluid is typically referred to as the mobile phase and the retentive media is typically referred to as the stationary phase. The separation of the various constituents of the mixture is based on differential partitioning between the mobile and stationary phases. Differences in components' partition coefficient result in differential retention on the stationary phase, resulting in separation.
Conventionally, the methods of choice for chromatographic separations have been gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC). One major difference between GC and LC is that the mobile phase in GC is a gas, whereas the mobile phase in LC is a liquid. For example, in GC, a supply of inert carrier gas (mobile phase) is continually passed as a stream through a heated column containing porous sorptive media (stationary phase). A sample of the subject mixture is injected into the mobile phase stream and passed through the column, where separation of the mixture is primarily due to the differences in the volatile characteristics of each sample component at the temperature of the column. A detector, positioned at the outlet end of the column, detects each of the separated components as they exit the column. Although GC is typically a sensitive method of analysis, the high temperatures required in GC make this method unsuitable for high molecular weight biopolymers or proteins (heat will denature them), frequently encountered in biochemistry.
Conversely, LC is a separation technique in which the mobile phase is a liquid and does not require volatilization of the sample. Liquid chromatography that generally utilizes small packing particles and moderately high pressure is referred to as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); whereas liquid chromatography that generally utilizes very small packing particles and high pressure is referred to as ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). In HPLC and UHPLC the sample is forced by a liquid at high pressure (the mobile phase) through a column that is packed with a stationary phase composed of irregularly or spherically shaped particles, a porous monolithic layer, or a porous membrane.
Because LC uses liquid as the mobile phase, LC techniques are capable of analyzing higher molecular weight compounds and, in some cases, LC can be used to prepare large scale batches of purified protein(s). However, in contrast, GC techniques are typically more sensitive and readily allow for the separation of single chiral materials. Thus, GC has conventionally been used to isolate and determine the relative purity of a chiral compound, e.g., by determining the enantiomeric excess (% ee) or the diastereomeric excess (% de) of a particular sample. As with most chromatographic techniques, the limiting factor in both GC and LC has been the ability to obtain and/or reproduce pure sample separations, each of which are typically dependent on the apparatus, methods, and conditions employed, e.g., flow rate, column size, column packing material, solvent gradient, etc.
Supercritical Fluid Chromatography is another chromatographic technique, which has typically been used in preparative applications. For every liquid substance there is a temperature above which it can no longer exist as a liquid, no matter how much pressure is applied. Likewise, there is a pressure above which the substance can no longer exist as a gas no matter how much the temperature is raised. These points are called the supercritical temperature and supercritical pressure, and define the boundaries on a phase diagram for a pure substance (FIG. 1). At this point, the liquid and vapor have the same density and the fluid cannot be liquefied by increasing the pressure. Above this point, where no phase change occurs, the substance acts as a supercritical fluid (SF). Thus, SF can be described as a fluid obtained by heating above the critical temperature and compressing above the critical pressure. There is a continuous transition from liquid to SF by increasing temperature at constant pressure or from gas to SF by increasing pressure at constant temperature.
The term SFC, while typically standing for Supercritical Fluid Chromatography, does not require or mean that supercritical conditions are obtained during or maintained throughout the separation. That is, columns do not have to be always operated in the critical region of the mobile phase. For example, in the event that the mobile phase includes a modifier (e.g., CO2 and methanol as a modifier), the mobile phase is often in its subcritical region (e.g., a highly compressed gas or a compressible liquid rather than a supercritical fluid). In fact, as Guiochon et al note in section 2.3 of their review article entitled “Fundamental challenges and opportunities for preparative supercritical fluid chromatography” Journal of Chromatography A, 1218 (2011) 1037-1114: “It is obvious that SFC has very often been and still is run under subcritical conditions.” Thus, the term SFC is not limited to processes requiring supercritical conditions.
Because SFC typically uses CO2, SFC processes are inexpensive, innocuous, eco-friendly, and non-toxic. There is typically no need for the use of volatile solvent(s) (e.g., hexane). Finally, the mobile phase in SFC processes (e.g., CO2 together with any modifier/additive as a SF, highly compressed gas, or compressible liquid) typically have higher diffusion constants and lower viscosities relative to liquid solvents. The low viscosity means that pressure drops across the column for a given flow rate is greatly reduced. The increased diffusivity means longer column length can be used.